I knew the Void was going to be a bit of a grind within the first few minutes. Funnily enough, it contains a lot of the stuff I crave (weird doomsday cults, Lovecraftian abominations, gooey practical effects) but just never struck a chord with me. It wasn’t something I could easily put my finger on, but it persisted throughout the film and managed to really drag down what could have been an otherwise excellent little bit of body horror. Call it a certain ineptness in the direction, or perhaps a general fault in the crafting of the story line, but at no time was I able to overcome the sensation that the movie had no real heart to it. Actors constantly yell their lines in an attempt to create a false sense of tension, but only succeed in making their characters incredibly unlikeable, while the menace of the cosmic horror of the plot line fails to come across due to an absolute lack of back story. We’re given constant impressions that the characters embody the shell of a movie, but it lacks filling. At no time was I able to really care about the fate of the characters, and therefore, the scares, when they came, tended not to land.
That’s not to say the film is a waste of time. It’s real victory lies in that it accomplishes some truly amazing horror imagery without relying on CGI. It’s a wonderful thing to see directors returning to using practical effects to craft their scares, and the creatures in this film are some of the best I’ve seen in a long time. Fans of John Carpenter will definitely find a lot of reference points here, especially to his classic films The Thing and In The Mouth of Madness (in fact, the latter film could have really done with some effects of this calibre). Like Carpenter’s film, there’s also a healthy dose of Lovecraft in the plot here, if not in specifics then definitely in the tone of cosmic indifference and burgeoning madness throughout. That’s not to say that fans of Lovecraft’s work will necessarily find anything here to satisfy them. All the atmospheric tones and world-building that make Lovecraft's work succeed are largely brushed over here in favour of some generic cult stuff that never gets explained at all. It’s a shame, because the iconography associated with the cult makes for some really striking imagery(just check out that fucking movie poster), and I get a sense that there could have been a really great story here, had there been some more coins in the coffer.
Ultimately, I’d suggest that The Void is worth a look for fans of horror cinema, especially if you dig on 80’s horror films. Strong vibes of Carpenter, Cronenberg and Barker here, and I’d suggest that movies like this should get audience support merely because they’re moving horror cinema in a good direction (it’s also a Canadian production, and we’re kinda kicking ass at horror right now). I’d like to see what the production team can accomplish given a bigger budget (the effects budget was crowd sourced) and some more solid writing. It has the feel, if not the heart of a classic 80’s body horror, and my hope is that given time and money the next outing from this production team could very well be a classic.
Numerical Ratings, for people who like that kind of stuff:
Acting: 5/10
Direction: 6/10
Cinematography: 7/10
Sound: 7/10
Score: 6/10
Effects: 7/10
Scares: 5/10
Gore: 7/10
Story: 5/10
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